Surgical procedures are often performed to fixate fractured bones or to secure an anatomical stabilization device, such as a halo or external fixator. Surgical pin placement involves inserting a portion of the surgical pin through the patient's skin and into a bone while allowing a portion of the surgical pin to extend outward from the patient's skin. The exposed pin allows a fixation device to be attached. These surgical pins must remain in position for some period of time depending on their intended purpose.
Prior approaches, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,293, 5,360,020, 5,702,388 and 8,216,288, include the utilization of devices, such as collars, retainers or clips, to stabilize a wound dressing or sponge in place over a surgical pin site. These devices are deficient in three main areas.
A first main area of deficiency is the lack of symmetrical wound compression. Adequate wound compression is directly related to the precise geometric coupling between the wound dressing and wound dressing stabilization device being used. These prior art approaches lack an adequate wound dressing housing and therefore provide asymmetric wound compression. Such asymmetry could lead to unequal skin tension and possible skin breakdown and soft tissue necrosis.
A second main area of deficiency is the lack of a closed wound dressing environment. Without the provision of a closed wound dressing environment drainage from the surgical pin site will communicate with the patient's adjacent skin. This in turn can allow bacteria upon a patient's skin to track into the surgical pin site causing a subsequent infection.
A third main area of deficiency is the failure to provide sufficient stabilizing of the surgical pin. Poor stabilizing of the surgical pin is first due to the inability of the collars, retainers or clips to maintain adequate pressure on the patient's skin. Due to a lack of rigidity, and the inherent pliability of wound dressing materials, most of the downward pressure needed to stabilize the surgical pin is absorbed by the wound dressing or sponge. Also, the close proximity between the securing devices, e.g. the collars, retainers or clips, with the wound dressing material being used provides an inferior point of fixation.
Furthermore, specific problems following the application of surgical fixation pins occur in aftercare relating to pin site wound dressings. Ordinary wound dressings lack wound compression, leading to excessive bleeding and drainage around the pin sites. Also, continuity of drainage soaked wound dressings with the patient's adjacent skin permits bacterial proliferation. Such proliferation allows bacteria from the skin outside the surgical pin site to be channeled into the surgical pin site. These circumstances set the stage for wound infections. In addition, the common method for changing and maintaining wound dressings around surgical pin sites is ineffective and laborious to say the least. Attempting to wrap sterile dressings around surgical pin sites does not provide adequate wound coverage or compression. For medical staff it is also a time consuming process resulting in decreased time to care for other patients. For the patient, lack of compliance because of the complexity of changing their surgical pin site dressings at home results in leaving drainage soaked pin site dressings on for days. These combined circumstances predispose the patient to wound infections. Furthermore, the high volume of disposable medical wound dressings used, and increased medical waste from daily dressing changes, will increase health care costs.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an innovation that will overcome the deficiencies of past approaches and the problems that remain unsolved.